The past several decades have seen remarkable advances in digital media reproduction equipment, particularly equipment that allows a variety of digital media files to be carried or transported with a user from one location to another. Such equipment includes, e.g., equipment for digitally recording, editing, mixing, producing, storing and reproducing digital media or multimedia files, such as without limitation audio tracks, digital images, and videos. A portable multimedia player is a self-reliant electronic device that is capable of storing and playing files in one or more media formats. Data may be typically stored on a hard drive, on a microdrive, or in flash memory.
A main feature of portable multimedia players may include their versatility in being able to load and play different formats of video, audio, and digital images. One example of a brand of portable multimedia players includes iPod® marketed by Apple Computer, Inc. Devices in the iPod® family may include primarily digital audio, video, and multimedia players. A selection of devices in the iPod® family may include, for example, a fifth generation iPod®, IPOD MINI, IPOD NANO, and IPOD SHUFFLE. Each one of the aforementioned iPod® devices may provide different capacities of audio and/or video storage. Additionally, the physical dimensions of each of the iPod® devices may also vary in accordance with user preference.
Most of the currently available portable multimedia players are designed to be highly portable and to allow an individual to carry a relatively large number of digital media files. However, because design of these devices has centered on portability, the manufacturers may tend to limit them so as to present the reproduced media to a user only through monaural or stereo headphones that are plugged into the portable multimedia player device or a small screen housed within the portable multimedia player device. This means that, at best, these players can only be used to reproduce audio tracks, digital images, and/or videos for a limited number of users, such as where one or more splitters are used to allow multiple users to plug headphones into the device. Furthermore, increasing the number of users connected to a single device beyond one or two may limit the portability of the portable multimedia players.
One method alternatively employed by some in the prior art is to allow users to attach a portable multimedia player to a stereo or audio speakers. This allows multiple users to experience audio tracks at the same time. Because the power output of portable multimedia players is typically relatively low, it is frequently advantageous for the speakers to include an amplifier that is powered by an external power source. By way of example, without intending to limit the present invention, some in the prior art have created relatively small, battery powered or alternating current (AC) powered speakers for use with portable multimedia players. Alternatively, others in the prior art use a method of allowing users to connect a portable multimedia player to television or other video device. This allows multiple users to experience digital images or videos simultaneously.
A proliferation of docking stations have been developed to allow connectivity to portable multimedia players such as, for example, the iPod® family of players. These docking stations may include a USB port, an audio output port, or a video output port. In addition, the docking station may be capable of charging the portable multimedia player when connected thereto. U.S. Pat. No. 7,095,867 issued to Schul et al. discloses a portable system capable of receiving audio signals from one or more sources and reproducing the signals via speakers contained therein. The portable system of Schul et al. includes a docking port for receiving an audio device. However, the docking port includes a fixed connector for receiving and communicating with the audio device and may not be able to physically accommodate the wide variety of shapes and sizes of portable multimedia players including, for example, iPod® family of digital audio, video, and multimedia players.
The present invention is directed to a portable audio reproduction system that substantially obviates one or more of the problems due to limitations and disadvantages of the related art. Additional features and advantages of the invention will be set forth in the description which follows, and in part will be apparent from the description, or may be learned by practice of the invention. The objectives and other advantages of the invention will be realized and attained by the structure particularly pointed out in the written description and claims hereof as well as the appended drawings.